Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The number of tourists visiting five renowned sites in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has crossed 50 lakh between March 1 and November 30 this year, up from 22 lakh in the corresponding period last year, with Ellora Caves the most patronised, an Archeological Survey of India official said on Friday.
During the day, the ASI shared tourist footfall figures for Aurangabad Caves, Bibi Ka Maqbara, Ellora Caves, Ajanta Caves, and Daulatabad Fort from March 1-November 30 period in 2022 and 2023.
Ajanta Caves | Gaurav Kadam
While the number of tourists visiting these five monuments between March 1 and November 30 in 2022 was 22,00,107, it rose to 50,50,071 in the same period this year, the ASI official told PTI.
The figures for foreign tourists coming to these five monuments increased from 10,133 in the March 1-November 30 period last year to 35,618 this year, he said.
Ellora Caves | Gaurav Kadam
Ellora Caves remained the favourite for visitors with the total domestic tourist footfall going up from 8.64 lakh in the 9-month period last year to 24.22 lakh this year, while the figures for foreign tourists rose to 18,669 from last year's 4051, he said.
While the number of domestic tourists at Aurangabad Caves came down during this March to November period from 80,492 last year to 78,560 this year, foreign tourist arrivals increased from 282 to 616, the ASI data revealed.
Daulatabad Fort | Gaurav Kadam
Footfall at ASI protected monuments in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (2022):
Aurangabad Caves: domestic - 80492 and foreign - 282, Bibi Ka Maqbara: domestic - 724241 and foreign - 2006, Ellora Caves: domestic - 864294 and foreign - 4051, Ajanta Caves: domestic - 231979 and foreign - 2901, Daulatabad fort: domestic - 299101 and foreign - 893.
In the same period in 2023:
Aurangabad Caves: domestic - 78560 and foreign - 616, Bibi Ka Maqbara: domestic - 1936029 and foreign - 8321, Ellora Caves: domestic - 2422492 and foreign - 18669, Ajanta Caves: domestic - 273520 and foreign - 6278, Daulatabad fort: domestic - 339470 and foreign - 1734.
